1The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, 2until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about God’s Kingdom. 4Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
9When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, 11who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had come in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying, that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said, 16“Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus. 17For he was counted with us, and received his portion in this ministry. 18Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness; and falling headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines gushed out. 19It became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem that in their language that field was called ‘Akeldama,’ that is, ‘The field of blood.’ 20For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his habitation be made desolate.
Let no one dwell in it;’
and,
‘Let another take his office.’
21“Of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John to the day that he was received up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23They put forward two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.” 26They drew lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
The New Jerusalem is the wife of the Lamb and is a massive city of crystal and gold. Just as one of the seven bowl judgment angels showed John Mystery Babylon, another of them now shows him New Jerusalem. Where the first angel took him to a wilderness to watch the destruction of Babylon, this angel takes him to a high mountain to watch the arrival of New Jerusalem to the new Earth.
The city’s glory is that of God, not of the city itself. The description of the city as crystalline, clear jasper stone indicates its beauty. Many interpreters feel that this description should be viewed as symbolic and not literal. It does have symbolic significance. However, God is not limited by the present laws of physics. The existence of the city is a result of His will, not any rules of nature.
Like the earthly city of Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem will have twelve gates, named after the twelve tribes of Israel. Likely, the twelve gates will be named after the twelve patriarchs, though the tribe of Dan, along with the half-tribe of Ephraim, were excluded from the 144,000 witnesses. Along with the twelve gates are twelve foundations named after the twelve apostles. Matthias will be listed along with the original eleven, not the Apostle Paul (Acts 1:26).
The description of the city itself begins with its measurement by an angel. It is not perfectly clear if the city is a cube or a pyramid. It is more likely to be a cube because the Holy of Holies was a cube, and in some sense, New Jerusalem serves as the heavenly Holy of Holies. The twelve thousand stadia measures approximately 1,380 miles. In comparison, the state of Texas is only 801 miles at its widest point (north to south). The wall’s 144 cubits (216 feet) likely refers to its thickness rather than height since the city’s height is equal to its width. This leads to interpretive problems since a city of that size being placed on the surface of the planet would interfere with its rotation. Furthermore, commercial aircraft do not fly more than seven miles above the surface. Low-orbiting satellites are only 1,200 miles above the planet. This, along with the materials of the city, leads many interpreters to view this as purely symbolic language.
The materials of the city are precious stones and pure gold. Everything is crystalline clear, other than the gates that are pearls. Its golden streets are so pure that they are transparent. This allows the glory of God to shine through and enlighten every corner of the city. Though many interpreters question the literalness of this description, God is not limited by our present creation’s limitations. He had already created New Jerusalem and dwells in it. That is the location of His throne. It is a physical, material location that has breathable air, food, and water, which have sustained Elijah and Enoch for thousands of years. Jesus is living there now in His resurrected human body. We should not be surprised that God would create such a glorious city to dwell in.